Swimming pool ladder



March 1962 1. SILVERMAN SWIMMING POOL LADDER Filed July 12, 1960 INVENTOR [r4 JvZrarm/v BYBPQKQQ- ATTORN EB United States Patent 3,023,832 SWIMMING POOL LADDER Ira Silverman, Chalfont, Pa., assignor of fifty percent to Herman Silverman, Doylestown, Pa. Filed July 12, 1960, Ser. No. 42,403 4 Claims. (Cl. 18293) This invention relates to swimming pool accessories. More particularly, it relates to a removable swimming pool ladder and to auxiliary fittings which may be used in connection therewith.

With the increased leisure time available to the public, swimming is becoming a sport of ever-increasingly popularity. Economical new materials of construction as well as new economical methods of utilizing old materials of construction, coupled with the increasing popularity of the sport, have been responsible for the building of large numbers of home swimming pools. Maintenance of these pools is an extremely important factor in prolonging their life and the life of auxiliary equipment normally associated with them.

Part of any comprehensive maintenance program is winterization of equipment which must, of necessity, remain out-of-doors. Yet, the best protection possible would be achieved were it feasible to remove such equipment from the pool and store it in a location shielded from the corrosive and destructive effects of the elements. In the past, this type of maximum protection has been impossible for even simple equipment such as swimming pool ladders, which are customarily permanently attached to the pool structure.

Furthermore, because of the increased utilization of pools during after-dark hours, most pools are now provided with under-water lights. These lights are customarily mounted in caverns or holes provided in the sides of the pool beneath the waterline. These cavities present a potential weak spot and, sooner or later, due to extremes of weather, develop into a source of leakage. The light source is usually contained in a water-proof housing which fits into the cavity and wires must be conducted from the housing to a junction box or deck box which is usually located at grade level just beyond the perimeter of the pool.

To winterize such lights, lest they break due to winter icing, the housing must be removed from the cavity, the junction at the deck box must be disconnected, and the intermediate wiring removed from the conduit which runs from the deck box to the cavity. Reinstallation in the spring involves the chore of remounting the housing, fishing the wires from the cavity to the deck box, and once again splicing wires within the deck box which may be hazardous for the inexperienced.

An alternative construction involves providing slack wire between the cavity and the deck box. Such lights are winterized by removing the housing, weighting it, and allowing it to rest on or near the bottom of the pool where no freezing occurs during the winter. This technique, in addition to the disadvantage of many manipulative steps, subjects the gaskets in the housing to yearround wear and thus shortens their life.

Quite aside from these problems, pool lights can present a safety hazard during use. On occasion, swimmers have inadvertently kicked the lens of the light housing, broken it, and sustained severe cuts.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a swimming pool ladder which is easily removed from a pool, particularly for winter storage.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a ladder which may be mounted in a pool without the use of underwater brackets, supports, or like components which require the creation of holes in the surfaces of ice the pool structure and which are permanently attached thereto.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a type of ladder which is readily adaptable to pools having either perpendicular sides or slanting sides.

A further object of the invention is to provide a ladder which may be readily combined with a submersible light to give a unitary, removable, light-ladder combination which simplifies winter maintenance problems, requires no modification of the pool for installation and allows removal of light and ladder from the pool as an integrated unit.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a means for mounting an underwater light which does not require any modification to the internal construction of the pool such as, for instance, the provision of cavities or caverns and which, accordingly, can readily be added to existing pools.

Other objects of my invention are to provide an improved device of the character described which is easily and economically produced, light in weight but strong and sturdy in construction and highly eificient in operation.

These and other related objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the description which follows. The various features and details of construction of the invention are more fully set forth herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 represents a front elevational view of a swimming pool ladder embodying my invention.

FIGURE 2 represents a sectional view of the ladder shown in FIGURE 1 taken along line 2-2 thereof.

FIGURE 3 represents a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 represents an enlarged sectional view of the bottom portion of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 represents a side elevational view of another ladder embodying the invention.

Considering now the drawings, wherein like numerals designate like parts, FIGURES 1-4 inclusive illustrate an embodiment of the invention suitable for use with pools having straight or perpendicular sides. FIGURE 5 illustrates an embodiment of the invention suitable for use with pools having slanted sides.

As best shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, the device includes a ladder A, retaining means or sockets 8, a submarine light C, and is mounted in a pool having side walls 10 and a top deck 11.

The ladder A includes side rails 12 having generally inverted U-shaped top portions 13 and rearwardly (i.e. toward wall 10) bent bottom portions 14. The rails are preferably built of light weight corrosion-resistant material such as aluminum, stainless steel, brass and the like and should be of hollow or tubular construction. Preferably they should have a generally circular cross-section. Bottom portions 14 are adapted to be placed in juxtaposition to wall 16 although, alternatively, they may rest on the bottom of the pool. In order not to mar the surface of the pool, which is usually painted or tiled, bottom portions 14 may be provided with resilient bumpers 15, made of a material such as, for instance, rubber or plastic. These bumpers keep the ends of side rails 12 in spaced relation to side wall 10. The bumpers may be of any suitable shape (e.g. mushroom, cap, hemispherical, sleeve shaped-when mounted around portions 14 in embodiments where there is contact with the bottom of the pool, etc.) so long as there are no sharp edges to mar the uools finish.

The ladder A is provided with a plurality of treads 16 which are secured to the side rails 12 in any conventional manner such as by bolts 17. These treads are preferably 3 provided with a non-slip surface (e.g. grooved, ridged, etc.) and may even be foraminous, containing a plurality ofdrain holes 18, p g A h v The top deck'10 is provided with a retainer or socket ,B which, as shown in FIGURE 2, may takerthe form of ,a'grouted-in fitting having a flange 19, a cup 20, and exterior retaining means such as prongs 21 which hold re- .tainer B permanently in the deck and bond it to materials such as concrete.

Ladder A is mounted in retainer B by inserting the ends of top portions 13 in cups 20. The ladder is removed for winter storage by merely lifting it up out of retainers B. There is no other connection to the structure, bumpers 15 merely serving as spacers and lateral stabilizers. This construction is generally preferred since the length of the ladder is then independent of the depth of the pool whereas in embodiments where the end portions 14 contact the bottom of the pool, each device must be tailor made.

The ladder also supplies a means for solving the problems of underwater lighting discussed above in that it is readily adaptable to serve as a mounting for submarine .light C. This submarine light fixture, as best shown in .FIGURES 1 and 4, includes a water-proof housing 22 having a flanged lens holder 23 in which is mounted a lens 24. The light may be of any conventional under- .water Underwriters Laboratory approved type and may contain' a bulb of any convenient size such as, for instance, 500 watts. The housing 2 2 is carried by brackets '25 which may be conveniently attached to tread 16 at one end and the flanged portion of holder 23 at the other end. The housing should preferably be mounted beneath and behind the tread so that no portion of it protrudes forward of the ladder structure into the pool. A conduit 26 connects the housing 22 with the interior of tubular side rail 12. A suitably insulated water-proof power line 27, which terminates in a plug 28, connects the'bulb in housing 22, via conduit 26 and the conduit- 7 like interior of rail 12, to a suitable source of electricity such as a conventional weather-proofoutlet 29. The power line 27 leaves the interior of rail 12 at any convenient point in top portion 13 and rail-12 is suitably drilled to provide an exit. Line 27 enters housing 22 through a suitably packed watertight aperture therein.

Lens 24 may be protected by a translucent or transparent kick plate 30. This is preferably made of a strong unbreakable material such as an acrylic resin and may 'be tinted if desired. Plate 3fl is drilled to receive bolts 31,

which also pass through brackets 25, and is mounted receiving and retaining the ends of said top portions;

lateral stabilizing means adapted to keep said side rails in spaced apart relationship to a side wall; a'plurality of horizontal treads mounted between said side rails; a water-proof submarine light mounted beneath a normallysubmerged tread on said ladder and dependent therefrom oriented to illuminate the interior of the pool; a waterproof power cord detachably connecting said light and a source of power proximate said sockets; conduit means integral with said ladder for conducting said power cord from said light to said source of power, said conduit means including the hollow interior of said side rails.

2. The ladder of claim l'which further includes 'a translucent unbreakable kick plate mounted in front of said submarine light.

3. A removable swimming pool ladder for a swimming pool having a horizontaldeck and generally vertical side walls comprising parallel, generally vertical tubular side rails including generally inverted U-shaped top portions and rearwardly curving bottom portions; socket means permanently mounted in the deck to detachably receive the ends of said top portions; bumpers'mounted on the end of said bottom portions to abut the side walls and keep said rails in spaced apart relation thereto; a'plurality of horizontal treads joining said side rails; a water-proof submarine light housing including a flanged lens holder mounted on said ladder beneath a normally-submerged tread and oriented to illuminate the interior of the pool; conduit means integral with said ladder connecting the interior of said housing with a source of power proximate the deck, said conduit means including the interior of one of said side rails; and a water-proof powercord detachably connecting the interior of said housing with a 'source of power on the deck.

4. The ladder of claim 3 which further includes atranslucent kick plate mounted in front of said'fianged' lens holder.

References Cited in the'file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 181,617 Allison Dec. 10,1957 1,185,904 Hendricks June 6, 1916 2,310,593 Orlicki Feb. 9, 1943 2,401,251 Kelsey May 28, 1946 2,779,866 Burlingham Jan. 29, 1957 

